Asians to be recognised at world waterski meet

PRESS RELEASE



Asian skiers will have more reason to look forward to the Waterski World Championships which starts today at the Putrajaya Lake.

This is because for the first time in history, the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) has approved of a parallel ‘Best Asian Skier’ category to run alongside the main world meet event.

This is indeed a significant move aimed at giving recognition to the passion and dedication of Asian skiers as well as giving the sport a push towards development in this region.

With waterski in Asia traditionally lagging behind the American and European counterparts, it is highly unlikely for the Asian skiers participating in the world meet to make it through to the finals.

The only Asian skier who could make the final is Malaysian sensation Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah, who is currently ranked No. 12 in the IWWF world rankings in tricks.

But it is still a very tall order for the 16-year-old who is going up against some of the best in the world - the likes of Canada’s Neilly Ross and Americans Anna Gay and Erika Lang.

Furthermore, it will take a huge effort from Aaliyah, scoring an approximate 8,200 points - a score she has yet to achieve in any competitions proper, to make it through to the final round. Her personal best currently stands at 7,600.

Thus the Asian awards category is to honour the Asian skiers’ efforts, and to provide a chance for Malaysia to showcase their four athletes in the world meet.

Apart from Aaliyah, the other three are her brothers - Aiden Yoong Hanifah and Adam Yoong Hanifah, aged 14 and 12 respectively - and 22-year-old Nadiah Nasir. With an average age of 16, Malaysia will indeed be the youngest team of all 32 countries that are competing.
“The Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWWF) are very heartened that this year’s edition has attracted 143 entries from 32 countries. But above all, we are also very excited to see a record 24 Asian skiers in the world meet battling it out for the best Asian awards,” said MWWF head coach Hanifah Yoong.

The Asian category award will recognise the three best Asian skiers in each of the four disciplines - slalom, tricks, jump and overall for both men and women, making it a total of 24 awards to be given out in this category.

The 2019 World Championship was declared open by Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad.

The world meet is hosted and supported by the Putrajaya Corporation, the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (an agency under the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry), the Youth and Sports Ministry and Nautique Boats USA.

Admission is free for spectators. The preliminary rounds started today and will go on until Aug 16. The finals will be held on Aug 17 and 18.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pelepasan cukai tambahan untuk pembelian alatan sukan, sewaan fasiliti sukan antara cadangan untuk Bajet 2024

Image
Berikut merupakan antara cadangan-cadangan Kementerian Belia dan Sukan untuk Bajet 2024 yang akan dibentangkan bulan hadapan. 1. Pengasingan sukan daripada kategori gaya hidup 2. Meneruskan dan memperluaskan inisiatif pelepasan cukai tambahan bagi aktiviti sukan berdasarkan senarai baharu 103 sukan berkuatkuasa Mac 2023 seperti berikut: 3. Pelepasan cukai tambahan sebanyak RM5,000 khusus berkaitan dengan aktiviti sukan yang dibelanjakan oleh individu bagi: • pembelian peralatan sukan untuk aktiviti sukan mengikut Akta Pembangunan Sukan 1997. • bayaran sewaan atau fi kemasukan ke mana-mana fasiliti sukan. • bayaran fi pendaftaran bagi penyertaan pertandingan sukan yang diluluskan di bawah Akta Pembangunan Sukan 1997. • Bayaran jurulatih/latihan/kelas untuk aktiviti sukan mengikut Akta Pembangunan Sukan 1997. Justifikasi: Impak kepada negara 1. Pembudayaan gaya hidup sihat dan aktif melalui aktiviti bersukan kepada semua peringkat sebagai pelaburan  kepada negara bagi mengurangkan be...
Read more

Papa win, papa win.

Image
Those were the words of three-year-old Dasha Ong. National coach Ong Kim Swee has not seen his wife Alodle Donna Derick, Dasha and his seven month old baby Dashie for almost a month. And the words of Dasha just hours prior the kick off between Indonesia and Malaysia in the final certainly motivated Kim Swee. In return, Kim Swee motivated the lads and they won. Read more in today's Mailsport. As expected members of the Press - even those not from the Sports Desk - had numerous questions for Kim Swee. Some wanted Kim Swee to share his experience in Jakarta, others were penning down every word of his when he slammed the organisers for their antics which certainly disturbed him and the boys. But the celebrations must come to an end as Kim Swee and the Olympic lads will now face Syria in the Asia zone Olympic qualifiers tonight (8.45pm). And Kim Swee had this to say: "The players are tired but with the support of the fans, if they come in full force, perhaps that will motivate our...
Read more

From 'Mr P' to 'Kemelut Dalaman BAM': Four chapters of 'mesej Whatsapp layang'

Image
Surat layang , or rather ' mesej Whatsapp (or some will pronounce as Wasup) layang '. That was what I received this afternoon from a number that is not registered on my phone. The sender identified him/herself as " ahli yg memerhati tingkah laku BAM " (Badminton Association of Malaysia). The four chapters were titled as:  'Siapa dia Tan Sri BAM "Mr P"' Perletakan Jawatan Presiden BAM 'Siapa Tengku Zafrul' Kemelut Dalaman BAM There were many allegations to which the sender justified as not " fitnah " but " hakikat apa yg berlaku ". The four chapters highlights Mr P's "connection kuat ", goes into why Tengku Zafrul was named as the incoming BAM president, and takes issue with the establishment of 'Yayasan Badminton Nasional' and Akademi Badminton Malaysia. The writer (unsure if the sender is also the writer) also wrote that ' majority in the Council dalam BAM semua tak berani buat laporan sebab tak...
Read more